Microsoft's Major Nelson has notified his followers that the company has released an Xbox 360 update that doesn't do anything now, but prepares for the upcoming Twitter, Last.fm, and Facebook functionality of the console. His royal majorness wrote:

"Sometime over the next few hours when you sign in to Xbox Live you’ll receive a prompt to accept this mandatory update. If you are signed into Live already, you may be signed out and asked to accept the update and you’ll be back online in a few moments.

There are no new features or changes in this update. This update is preparation for additional system enhancements (Facebook/Twitter/Last.FM) that will arrive later this year."

It will be interesting to see how many users take advantage of these features. I'm all for expanding the functionality of consoles, but there are several readers of TheFeed that don't care for these features -- particularly the social networking.

Since Twitter, Last.fm, and Facebook on Xbox 360 are right around the corner, I wanted to check which features you're looking forward to. Do you see yourself using any or all of them? Anyone you're looking forward to more than others? Leave a comment and let me know (please)!

Welcome to "Morning Hangover" -- an excellent way to start your day with the crew at TheFeed...no matter what you're recovering from. Every morning you'll hear musings from two of TheFeed's editors and have the chance to share your thoughts on what's going on in the gaming world. So buckle up, prepare yourself for Sony news bombs, and keep reading!

Raymond Padilla: As expected, the rumor that Sony will be bringing the entire PlayStation 2 catalog to PlayStation Network caused quite the stir. Predictably, gamers that purchased a later PS3 model are angry that they won't be able to play their PS2 discs on their new system. Some are angry that they might have to buy their PS2 games again. Those people need to get over it; you can play your PS2 games on your PS2 (a novel idea) and nobody is "forcing" you to buy old games again. If the whole thing bothers you that much, then don't play ball. With all the negative energy surrounding the rumor, I'm going to choose to focus on the positive. There are a lot of gamers that will have access to hundreds of great PS2 games for the first time. That is an excellent thing.

Did you mix X-Play's Uncharted 2: Among Thievesspecial? Shame on you! Don't worry though, G4tv.com's Uncharted 2 Video Center has you covered. Click here for loads of great content, including videos from the special and walkthroughs of seven multiplayer maps. Naughty Dog fans will definitely want to check it out!

With console prices being cut like crazy (all the kids are doing it!), you'd think that a more competitive market has the potential to shake things up in the gaming world. According to Microsoft director of product management Aaron Greenberg, that's not the case. In a recent interview with Eurogamer, he claimed that price cuts have a negligible long-term effect:

"I don't believe the price cuts that both companies have made will impact the market dynamics too dramatically in the long term. We typically see a month or two of lifts and share adjustments, but then things tend to settle back to roughly the established market ranking."

I don't think he honestly believes that. Sony cutting the price of the PlayStation 3 to $299 is pretty significant and it seems like Greenberg is dismissing its importance. While it's no guarantee that Sony will greatly expand its market share, it certainly has a much bigger opportunity with a price cut.

What do you think? Is Greenberg right? Are price cuts a short-term thing? Or is he blowing smoke?

As I wrote last month, I completely expect Sony to do this. I don't think anyone should be surprised by this "leaked document". In fact, I'm surprised that people are surprised. There will be gamers complaining vociferously about this move, but as Nintendo has shown over the years, it's easy to get players to buy the same game over and over again. If Nintendo can do it, then why not Sony?

I'm sure you guys and gals have a lot to say on the matter. I want to know what you think, especially gamers that don't have a backwards compatible PlayStation 3.

It looks like Microsoft will be selling a multi-colored controller and it looks...interesting. EB Games has the red-and-black controller available for pre-order, with a ship date of October 15.

While I'm sure some people will like the looks of this game pad, I really don't care for it. Between the two main colors and the buttons colors, there's just way too much going on. That said, I'm sure there's some two-toned combination that will work for me.

What do you ladies and gentlemen think of the controller? Do you dig it? If not, is there a two-toned combo that you'd like to see?

Unsurprisingly, the latest Pokemon games are selling like crazy in Japan -- I'm talking seven-digits crazy. According to Media Create, Pokemon SoulSilver sold 722,904 copies, while HeartGold sold 720,086. That's a total of 1,442,990 in just two days! Apparently the economic downturn is no match for Ho-oh and Lugia.

These numbers should be interesting to people who make ignorant comments like, "They still make Pokemon games?" and, "People still care about Pokemon?" Guess what bunky? Yes, Pokemon games are still being made by the excellent people at GameFreak and millions of people care enough to buy them.

Anyone surprised by the sales figures? Do you still doubt that we live in a Pokemon world?

Cheats and Walkthroughs

Cheats and Walkthroughs

Review

Cheats and Walkthroughs

Welcome to "Morning Hangover" -- an excellent way to start your day with the crew at TheFeed...no matter what you're recovering from. Every morning you'll hear musings from two of TheFeed's editors and have the chance to share your thoughts on what's going on in the gaming world. So buckle up, get ready to turn Japanese this week, and keep reading!

Stephen Johnson: We have a copy of DJ Hero set up in our game capture laboratory at this very moment, and after putting it through its paces a bit, I’m going to make a prediction: This is going to be a polarizing game. Some will regard the mash-up simulator as the game of the year, and other people are just not going to get it… like at all.

My reaction: It’s fun, sure, but, basically, it simulates an activity that I have no interest in participating in real life. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t see a DJ in a club and think: “I want to be that guy!” So the idea of pretending to be him via a game (and sort of sucking at it, too) just doesn’t appeal: For me, playing DJ Hero gave me the experience of being bad at something I’m not interested in.

If, on the other hand, you have a different aesthetic than I have (and more tolerance for learning a completely new system of gameplay) you’ll be very into the complexity and vibe of DJ Hero. In spite of its attempts to hit a broad audience, I have a feeling DJ Hero is strictly for the hardcore.

Cheats and Walkthroughs

With all the classes in Star Wars: The Old Republic, a lot of players have questions about the game's balancing. You'd think that Jedi and Sith would totally own in the game, but that's not the case. BioWare Austin producer Blaine Christine spoke about class balancing and gave details on the recently revealed trooper class at PAX 2009:

"The trooper is from a very high-profile mercenary-unit that is the elite -- the cream of the crop in terms of the clone troopers. He's not just your average run-of-the-mill guy. First of all, he is a hero. So if you think of the most bad-ass trooper, could he theoretically take on a Jedi? Sure! And we've seen things like that in the movies where Obi-Wan is battling with Jango Fett, for instance. So it is possible."

Cheats and Walkthroughs

When LucasArts revealed that it was partnering with BioWare for a Star Wars MMO, millions of people (including Rodians, Mon Calamari, and Twi'leks) paid attention. Star Wars: The Old Republic promises to be like no other MMO to date. At PAX 2009, producer Jake Neri revealed how the game's story and combat will distinguish it from the pack.

"What we're really trying to do with The Old Republic is introduce the idea of story into an MMO. The genre has a ton of good games -- games that focus on combat and exploration and progression, but when we came together with BioWare to make this game, we wanted to focus on story and what that means in an MMO.

When we looked at the combat and we started out, the goal was to make it heroic and cinematic. One thing that's interesting -- I don't know if everybody knows -- is that everything that we've shown is up to level eight. At level eight, most classes you see are pretty impressive. We've got cool bounty hunter abilities that people look at and say, 'Wow, I can't wait to do that!' Our Sith warrior flipping through the air and rocking people to the skull -- people want to do that, right? It's cool. It's unique. It's exciting. It's heroic. From the beginning of the game, we're trying to deliver that experience."

Apple's apparent rejection of Google Voice for iPhone is silly. The company claims that it's evaluating the product and hasn't approved it because it duplicates some of the iPhone's features and might confuse its users. As much as I admire certain Apple executives and enjoy the company's products, its line of reasoning has me thinking one thing: what a load of crap!!! Let's break it down.

Google Voice duplicates iPhone features: It sure does...but so do several other programs that are available on the iTunes App Store. Whether you're talking about TomTom's GPS app, Spotify, Vonage, or countless other applications, Apple has approved many programs that duplicate the iPhone's functionality. This "concern" is garbage.
Google Voice might confuse iPhone users: Apparently all iPhone users are stupid, unable to tell the difference between the phone's native dialer and Google Voice's. Or maybe iPhone users are stupid for paying AT&T's rates for sending text messages and making international calls -- things Google Voice can do for free and cheap, respectively. Seriously though, there are many iPhone users that aren't tech savvy, but I have to believe that the majority of iPhone owners aren't complete morons. I don't see how the app is confusing to a reasonably intelligent person.

So what's the real reason for the "rejection" of Google Voice? That's easy: Apple doesn't like it. As I explained last month, Apple and Google are competing in more and more areas. Apple doesn't want a filthy Google product infecting its precious iPhone. Furthermore, the iPhone is Apple's house and any visitors have to abide by its rules. I wish the company would fess up and just say that, instead of making pretentious claims about confusing its users.

Anyway, that's my rant on the matter. What do you guys and gals think? Do you think Apple is genuinely concerned about duplicating features and confusing users? Or is that all a bunch of hot air?

Tokyo Game Show is nearly here, which leaves the G4tv.com split on opposite sides of the Earth. Some of the boys are getting their portable-gaming groove on as they make the 10-hour flight to Japan, while the home team will be chilling out in sunny Los Angeles. What games will the G4tv.com be playing as they're divided? Read on to find out! When you're done, let everyone know what you're playing over the weekend.

Brian Leahy: As I’ll be spending quite a bit of time on a plane to Japan, I’ll be playing Scribblenauts and assorted iPhone games: Peggle, Doom Resurrection, Civilization Revolution, and Madden NFL 10. Sadly, I’ll have to wait until I return to play Halo 3: ODST. I could bring my copy to Japan, but I’ve heard there aren’t actually any Xbox 360s in Japan.

The war between Apple and Google just got a wee bit more interesting -- an unredacted version of a document filed with the FCC shows Google claiming that it was informed of Google Voice's rejection from the iTunes App Store by Apple senior vice president Phil Schiller. According to the Google-filed document:

"The primary points of contact between the two companies were Alan Eustace, Google Senior Vice President of Engineering & Research, and Phil Schiller, Apple Senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing. On July 7, Mr. Eustace and Mr. Schiller spoke over the phone. It was during this call that Mr. Schiller informed Mr. Eustace that Apple was rejecting the Google Voice application."

What do you make of this latest information? Who's telling the truth? Did Apple reject Google Voice? Or is Apple merely evaluating the product (over the course of several months)? Leave a comment and let me know (please)!

Former WWE Diva Trish Stratus is heading to the Nintendo Wii in a game called Stratusphere Yoga. The "Diva of the Decade" and one of the hottest things to ever come out of Toronto has signed with a Canadian developer to bring some Stratusfaction to Wii gamers. According to Casualgaming.biz:

"Canadian developer Frima Studio has signed WWE wrestling champion and fitness model Trish Stratus to star in new Wii exercise package Stratusphere Yoga. The game will join the crowded health and well-being market, currently dominated by Wii Fit and EA Sports Active

Stratusphere Yoga will utilise the Wii Balance Board, and 'other new and innovative Wii peripheral devices', according to a statement from Frima. It is not clear whether this means the Wii Vitality Sensor will be supported, or that a third party device is underway."

While I'm absolutely positive that this game isn't for me, I definitely want to see it (just to get a peak at Trish in some...uh...flexible positions). Although Stratus has been flying under the radar since leaving the WWE, she has made a smattering of television appearances and recently guest hosted Monday Night Raw. I'm curious to see if her name will translate into sales.

For the heck of it, I posted an old picture of Trish threatening me at WrestleMania 21 (I think). I'm guessing TheFeed doesn't attract many Wii gamers that are into yoga, but I have to ask, would any of you buy a Trish Stratus yoga game?

Welcome to "Morning Hangover" -- an excellent way to start your day with the crew at TheFeed...no matter what you're recovering from. Every morning you'll hear musings from two of TheFeed's editors and have the chance to share your thoughts on what's going on in the gaming world. So buckle up, break the Internets, and keep reading!

Raymond Padilla: Yesterday, I wrote about Uncharted 2's use of Twitter. I'm a bit torn on the matter. I love games (duh!) and I'm an avid Twitter user...however, I don't want these worlds colliding -- not yet anyway. Uncharted 2's use of Twitter seems clever from a marketing standpoint, but as a user, I don't find it appealing. I don't want to know that one friend earned a trophy or another cleared a level. I'm sure someone will come up with a slick way to implement Twitter into a game, but I'm not sure what that entails. Anyone have any cool ideas on how Twitter can make traditional console gaming more fun?